BY 

DOUGLAS  C.  McMURTRIE. 

NEW  YORK.  - 
fornt'CrSepd,^ati0Editof  Sclavs 


REPRINTED  FROM 
THE 

MEDICAL  RECORD 

October  26,  1918 


WILLIAM  WOOD  &  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK. 


SOCIAL    RESPONSIBILITIES    IN    THE  RE- 
HABILITATION   OF    DISABLED  SOL- 
DIERS   AND  SAILORS. 

By   DOUGLAS   C.  McMURTRIE, 
NEW  YORK. 

DIRECTOR    RED    CROSS    INSTITUTE    FOR    CRIPPLED    AND  DISABLED 
MEN  ;     PRESIDENT.     FEDERATION'     OF     ASSOCIATIONS  FOR 
CRIPPLES  ;    EDITOR,     "AMERICAN    JOURNAL  OF 
CARE    FOR  CRIPPLES." 

There  are  distinct  social  responsibilities  in  the 
rehabilitation  for  civilian  life  of  disabled  soldiers 
and  sailors.  In  the  restoration  of  the  man  to  self- 
support,  although  the  medical  treatment  be  thor- 
ough and  efficient,  though  reeducational  provision 
be  excellent,  and  though  the  will  and  spirit  of 
the  men  under  training  may  be  of  the  best,  yet  the 
complete  success  of  the  program  will  depend  upon 
whether  the  attitude  of  the  public  acts  as  a  help 
or  a  hindrance — upon  whether  the  influence  on  the 
individual  ex-soldier  of  his  family,  his  employer, 
and  the  community  at  large  is  constructive  or  de- 
moralizing. 

What,  then,  is  the  public  duty  toward  the  dis- 
abled soldier?  For  it  is  certain  that  the  require- 
ments need  only  to  be  understood  to  be  fulfilled. 

The  first  responsibility  on  the  part  of  the  family 
of  the  injured  man  is  to  learn  the  meaning  of  dis- 

L  opynght,  \\  llliani   Wood  &  Company. 


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ability  and  see  the  hopeful  rather  than  the  de- 
Pressmg  aspect.  Just  recently  in  the  suburb  of  a 
large  Pennsylvania  city  a  woman  in  a  swoon  was 
found  on  the  steps  of  the  local  postoffice  She 
had  just  opened  a  letter  from  her  son  at  the  front 
which  told  of  a  gunshot  injury  necess bating  am 
putation  of  his  left  arm  below  the  elbow  Imme- 
diately there  rose  before  her  eyes  the  terrifying 
prospect  of  a  life  of  idleness  and  possible  pauperism. 
One  can  imagine  what  her  next  letter  would  be 
like:  saying  she  knows  what  the  amputation  means 
and  sympathizes  most  tenderly  on  account  of  what 
must  be  faced  in  the  future.  If  it  were  only  a  leg 
it  would  not  be  so  bad,  for  then  he  might  be  able 
to  take  care  of  himself  and  get  some  kind  ot  a 
job  but  with  an  arm  off,  he  could  not  expect  to  do 
that  But  she  and  father  have  saved  up  some, 
and  with  uncle's  help  they  will  take  care  of  him 
till  the  end  of  his  days.  Picture  the  influence  of 
this  message  in  comparison  with  another  which 
might  be  sent  in  the  light  of  a  fuller  understanding 
of  what  is  possible:  "1  have  just  heard  of  your 
aim  amputation  and  sympathize  most  lovingly  in 
your  loss.  But  I  know  you  will  not  lose  your 
courage,  even  at  this  sacrifice  for  your  country. 
Even  now,  the  national  authorities  are  making 
plans  to  make  up  so  far  as  possible  for  such  losses, 
as  you  doubtless  already  well  know.  One-armed 
men  can  be  trained  for  skilled  jobs,  especially  men 
with  native  ability  such  a?  yours,  and  the  training 
is  already  under  way  in  the  city  near  us.  The 
employers  also  here  are  becoming  tremendously  in- 
terested in  the  subject,  and  are  finding  jobs  specially 
suited  to  men  who  have  lost  arms  or  legs  and  have 
promised  these  jobs  to  the  fellows  who  return  from 
the  front  disabled.   And  you  can  count  on  our  stand- 


e 


ing  behind  you  at  every  step  and  helping  in  every 
way  we  can.  This  is  really  a  fine  future  to  look 
ahead  to  for  if  you  make  good  here  at  home  with 
your  handicap  of  honor,  you  and  we  will  have  true 
reason  to  be  proud.  And  of  course  you  will  suc- 
ceed if  you  go  at  this  obstacle  with  the  same  spirit 
and  nerve  as  have  gone  toward  your  work  in  the 
army.  Your  mother  will  look  forward  to  your 
return  home  wearing  the  uniform  of  Uncle  Sam 
and  flying  the  colors  of  a  soldier  who  can't  be 
beaten." 

It  is  greatly  to  be  desired  that  the  families  of 
men  going  to  the  front  should  know  of  the  possi- 
bilities of  reeducation  and  reemployment  and  of  the 
provision  being  made  for  the  disabled,  for  it  would 
mitigate  not  only  a  great  deal  of  mental  suffering 
over  actual  injuries  but  over  prospective  disabili- 
ties as  well.  It  is  well  known  that  the  greatest 
fear  regarding  service  in  the  trenches  is  not  the 
loss  of  life  but  the  prospect  of  returning  crippled. 
As  one  writer  has  well  put  it :  "To  die  for  one's 
country:  if  one  could  only  be  sure  of  dying!" 

In  coming  down  in  the  elevator  of  a  large  New 
York  djpartment  store  recently,  the  day  following 
the  publication  in  its  pictorial  section  by  a  great 
daily  newspaper  of  the  photograph  of  the  first 
American  amputation  cases  in  France,  the  follow- 
ing remark  was  overheard:  "Did  you  see  those 
horrible  pictures  in  the  paper  yesterday?  I  do 
hope  that  Jack  will  not  come  home  that  way:  I 
would  rather  he  be  killed."  Yet  the  picture  showed 
only  foot  amputations  and  to  one  familiar  with 
cripples  and  their  potential  accomplishments  such  a 
disability  seems  a  real  inconvenience  but  nothing 
more.  The  woman  quoted  was  suffering  unduly  in 
her  apprehension. 


It  is  not  here  intended  to  minimize  the  serious- 
ness of  the  total  disabilities  but  these  occur  in  but 
one  case  in  a  hundred  thousand.  The  point  is  that 
many  injuries  that  might  be  regarded  as  terrible 
under  unintelligent  handling  in  the  past  no  longer 
remain  so. 

The  second  responsibility  of  the  family  is  to 
understand  the  importance  to  the  disabled  soldier 
of  the  proffered  training  for  self-support,  and  to 
oncourp^e  him  in  every  possible  way  to  undertake 
it.  The  family  must  do  more  than  avoid  opposition 
to  the  soldier's  plan  for  reeducation;  they  must  do 
more  than  give  it  lukewarm  assent — they  must  *>-et 
behind  it  with  every  influence  at  their  command. 

Failure  to  have  the  family  understand  and  sup- 
port the  program  for  the  future  of  the  disabled 
man  may  have  disastrous  results.  In  France  the 
mother  occupies  an  unusual  place  of  authority  in 
the  family  economy.  A  son  may  grow  up  to  be 
twenty,  thirty,  or  forty  years  old,  but  mother  is 
still  a  chief  to  whom  obedience  is  unquestionably 
paid.  In  dealing  with  the  poilu,  therefore,  one 
must  count  in  his  maternal  parent  as  well.  At  one 
French  center  of  hospital  care  and  reeducation  it 
was  found  that,  as  a  man  would  approach  the 
point  of  his  medical  recovery  and  approach  the 
time  of  entry  on  vocational  training,  his  mother  was 
liable  to  descend  upon  the  hospital  office,  beat  her 
umbrella  on  the  table,  inquire  why  they  were  keep- 
ing her  son  so  long  away  from  home,  and  demand 
his  immediate  discharge  in  order  that  she  might 
take  him  away  "to  care  for  the  poor  crippled  boy 
for  the  rest  of  his  life."  In  vain  were  explanations 
and  arguments  regarding  the  efficacy  of  further 
treatment  and  training.  She  had  come  there  de- 
termined to  take  her  son  away,  and  the  scene  would 


continue  until  her  end  was  accomplished.  And  in 
most  instances  there  was  nothing  to  do  but  accede 
to  the  mother's  demand. 

But  a  better  way  was  found  of  dealing  with  the 
families  of  men  deemed  likely  to  benefit  by  re- 
education. Under  this  procedure  when  the  soldier 
was  nearing  the  end  of  his  hospital  care  the 
director  of  the  institution  would  summon  the  mother 
to  come  in  and  advise  regarding  her  son's  future. 
She  would  then  be  addressed  something  in  this  wise: 
"Your  son's  medical  treatment  will,  in  another  week 
or  two,  be  practically  complete,  and  we  thought 
you  might  like  to  know  so  that,  if  you  desired,  you 
could  make  plans  to  take  him  home.  But  you 
know  he  is  permanently  disabled  and  will  not  be 
able  to  go  back  to  his  old  job  of  telegraph  lineman. 
We  know  that  you  expect  to  care  for  him,  but  he 
will  outlive  you,  and  later,  since  the  government 
pension  is  small  indeed,  he  will  be  reduced  to  a 
miserable  situation.  You  remember  the  cripples 
from  the  War  of  1870,  how  they  begged  or  sold 
trinkets  about  the  streets — and  you  would  not  want 
your  son  to  be  in  that  fix.  Luckily,  however,  he 
will  not  have  to  be  for  we  have  something  else  to 
suggest.  Across  the  street  is  a  school  where  the 
men  are  taught  various  skilled  trades.  If  your  son 
cares  to  stay  for  five  or  six  months,  and  you  ap- 
prove, we  will  teach  him  to  be  a  telegrapher  and 
he  can  go  back  to  his  home  town  and  get  a  good 
job  with  the  government  telegraphs.  As  a  skilled 
worker  still  he  will  be  doubly  respected  in  the  com- 
munity, he  will  be  a  burden  on  no  one,  his  future 
will  be  assured,  and  you  will  be  very,  very  proud 
of  him.  What  do  you  think  wise  under  the  cir- 
cumstances?" 

The  whole  situation  is  changed.    Mother  greets 


her  boy  with:  "Son,  have  you  heard  what  they 
are  going  to  do  for  you?"  And  as  the  son  has 
already  been  talked  to  regarding  the  program,  the 
joint  decision  is  assured. 

This  illustrates  the  difference  between  a  family 
for  or  a  family  against  the  proposal  of  reeducation. 

The  third  duty  of  the  family  is  to  stand  behind 
the  man  during  his  course  of  training  and  try  in 
every  way  to  encourage  rather  than  dishearten  him. 
Letters  from  home  which  recite  all  the  troubles  of 
life  and  none  of  the  joys  will  not  help  the  enterprise. 
The  family  reaction  should  rather  be:  "Stick  to  it; 
we  are  getting  along  all  right  and  want  to  see  you 
finish  the  job  up  right,  now  that  you  are  at  it." 
In  other  words  it  is  necessary  to  maintain  the 
morale  of  the  family  in  the  same  way  as  when 
the  man  is  at  the  front.  This  is  largely  contributed 
to  by  home  visitors  such  as  those  of  the  Canadian 
Patriotic  Fund  or  the  American  Red  Cross. 

The  fourth  family  responsibility  toward  the  dis- 
abled man  is  to  make  the  home  influence  as  sensible 
and  as  truly  helpful  as  possible  after  his  return 
from  hospital  or  school.  The  first  and  very  natural 
impulse  when  son  or  husband  comes  home  crippled 
or  blind  is  to  pet  him  and  wait  on  him  hand  and 
foot.  Yet  the  best  interests  of  the  family  as  well 
as  of  the  man  himself  demand  his  being  encouraged 
to  do  for  himself  everything  he  can,  with  the  aim 
of  stimulating  that  self-dependence  which  has  been 
the  object  of  his  whole  course  of  training.  Within 
the  limits  imposed  by  affection  the  family  should 
endeavor  to  carry  along  the  spirit  of  that  training. 

In  the  readjustment  of  the  crippled  soldier  to 
civilian  life  the  employer  has  a  very  definite  re- 
sponsibility. But  this  duty  is  not  entirely  obvious. 
It  is,  on  the  contrary,  almost  diametrically  opposite 


6 


to  what  one  might  superficially  infer  it  to  be.  The 
duty  is  not  to  "take  care  of,"  from  patriotic  motives, 
a  given  number  of  disabled  men,  finding  for  them 
any  odd  jobs  which  are  available,  and  putting  the 
ex-soldiers  in  them  without  much  regard  to  whether 
they  can  earn  the  wages  paid  or  not. 

Yet  this  method  is  all  too  common.  A  local  com- 
mittee of  employers  will  deliberate  about  as  fol- 
lows: "Here  are  a  dozen  crippled  soldiers  for 
whom  we  must  find  jobs.  Jones,  you  have  a  large 
factory:  you  should  be  able  to  take  care  of  six  of 
them.  Brown,  can  you  not  find  places  for  four  of 
them  in  your  warehouse?  And  Smith,  you  ought 
to  place  at  least  a  couple  in  your  store." 

Such  a  procedure  cannot  have  other  than  perni- 
cious results.  In  the  first  years  of  war  the  spirit 
of  patriotism  runs  high,  but  experience  has  shown 
that  men  placed  on  this  basis  alone  find  themselves 
out  of  a  job  after  the  war  has  been  over  several 
years,  or,  in  fact,  after  it  has  been  in  progress 
for  a  considerable  period  of  time. 

A  second  weakness  in  this  method  is  that  a  man 
who  is  patronized  by  giving  him  a  charity  job  comes 
to  expect  as  a  right  such  semi-gratuitous  support. 
Such  a  situation  breaks  down  rather  than  builds 
up  character,  and  makes  the  man  progressively  a 
weaker  rather  than  a  stronger  member  of  the  com- 
munity. 

The  third  difficulty  is  that  such  a  system  does 
not  take  into  account  the  man's  future.  Casual 
placement  means  employment  either  in  a  makeshift 
job  as  watchman  or  elevator  operator  such  as  we 
should  certainly  not  offer  our  disabled  men  except 
as  a  last  resort — or  in  a  job  beyond  the  man,  one 
in  which,  on  the  cold-blooded  considerations  of 
product  and  wages,  he  cannot  hold  his  own.  Jobs 


7 


of  the  first  type  have  for  the  worker  a  future  of 
monotony  and  discouragement.  Jobs  of  the  second 
type  are  frequently  disastrous,  for  in  them  a  man, 
instead  of  becoming  steadily  more  competent  and 
building  up  confidence  in  himself,  stands  still  as 
regards  improvement  and  loses  confidence  every  day. 
When  he  is  dropped  or  goes  to  some  other  employ- 
ment, the  job  will  have  had  for  him  no  permanent 
benefit. 

Twelve  men  sent  to  twelve  jobs  may  all  be  seri- 
ously misplaced,  while  the  same  twelve  placed  with 
thought  and  wisdom  and  differently  assigned  to  the 
same  twelve  jobs  may  be  ideally  located.  If  normal 
workers  require  expert  and  careful  placement, 
crippled  candidates  for  employment  reouire  it  even 
more. 

The  positive  desideratum  is  to  find  for  the  dis- 
abled man  a  constructive  job  which  he  can  hold  on 
the  basis  of  competence  alone.    In  such  a  job  he 
can  be  self-respecting,  be  happy,  and  look  forward 
to  a  future.   This  is  a  duty  not  so  easy  of  execution 
as  telling  a  superintendent  to  take  care  of  four 
men  but  there  is  infinitely  more  satisfaction  to  the 
employer  in  the  results,  and  infinitely  greater  ad- 
vantage to  the  employee.    And  it  is  entirely  prac- 
tical even  in  dealing  with  seriously  disabled  men 
lhousands  of  cripples  are  now  holding  important 
jobs  in  the  industrial  world.    But  they  are  men  of 
exceptional  character  and  initiative  and  have  in 
general,  made  their  way  in  spite  of  employers  rather 
than  because  of  them.    Too  many  employers  are 
ready  to  give  the  cripple  alms,  but  notSg 
expend  the  thought  necessary  to  place  him  hi  a 
suitable  job.   This  attitude  has  helped  to  ma™  many 
cripples  dependent.    With  new  responsibilities  to 
the  disabled  soldier,,  the  point  of  view  must  eer- 
8 


tainly  be  changed.  What  some  cripples  have  done, 
other  cripples  can  do — if  only  given  a  chance. 

This,  then,  constitutes  the  charge  of  patriotic 
duty  upon  the  employer: 

To  study  the  jobs  under  his  jurisdiction  to  de- 
termine what  ones  might  be  satisfactorily  held  by 
cripples.  To  give  the  cripples  preference  for  these 
jobs.  To  consider  thoughtfully  the  applications  of 
disabled  men  for  employment,  bearing  in  mind  the 
importance  of  utilizing  to  as  great  an  extent  as 
possible  labor  which  would  otherwise  be  unpro- 
ductive. To  do  the  returned  soldier  the  honor  of 
offering  him  real  employment,  rather  than  proffer- 
ing him  the  ignominy  of  a  charity  job. 

The  responsibility  to  the  disabled  soldier  on  the 
part  of  the  community  at  large  is  much  more  com- 
plex, since  the  contact  exists  at  a  multitude  of 
points  and  is  at  none  highly  intimate.  The  first 
reaction  of  the  public  to  the  returning  man  is 
hero-worship  of  the  most  empty  type — described 
coldly  it  usually  consists  in  making  a  fool  of  the 
man  and  entertaining  him  in  inappropriate  and 
hurtful  ways. 

One  form  of  this  is  society  lionization — and  for 
but  the  proverbial  six  days  indeed.  To  a  large 
Canadian  city  there  returned  a  disab'ed  soldier  after 
two  years'  absence  at  the  front.  His  wife  and 
children  had  been  looking  forward  expectantly  to 
having  him  with  them,  but  after  his  arrival  saw  but 
little  of  the  head  of  the  house.  As  a  national  holi- 
day was  approaching  they  were  counting  on  his 
accompanying  them  to  the  park,  and  had  exacted 
a  tentative  promise  that  he  would  do  so.  But  as 
the  morning  arrived  and  mother  was  dressing  the 
children  to  start,  father  made  no  move  to  get  ready. 
Almost  tearfully  mother  asked  if  he  was  not  going 


9 


with  them.  "Oh,  no,"  he  answered,  "I  am  going 
for  an  automobile  ride  this  morning  and  this  after- 
noon to  a  sing-song  at  the — (naming  a  fashionable 
hotel)."  Thus  was  the  community  showing  kind- 
ness to  the  returned  soldier  and  helping  to  put 
him  back  on  his  feet. 

The  man  on  the  street  thinks  the  greatest  service 
to  the  disabled  fighter,  particularly  when  he  is  dis- 
charged from  the  army  and  no  longer  under  the 
partial  protection  of  the  khaki,  to  consist  in  buying 
him  at  the  corner  saloon  as  many  drinks  as  he 
can  hold.  From  one  small  American  city  a  social 
worker  reported  inability  to  distinguish  as  to 
whether  certain  discharged  men  were  suffering  from 
shell  shock  or  intoxication,  so  hearty  was  the  hos- 
pitality of  the  citizens.  Such  "kindness"  requires 
no  comment.  Fortunately  the  war-time  measure 
regarding  the  liquor  trade  will  soon  make  this  im- 
possible, and  will  guard  the  ex-soldier  from  one 
pitfall.  It  may  be  noted  in  passing  that  this  will 
be  a  boon  to  the  returned  men  in  more  ways  than 
one.  In  Canada  at  a  time  when  most  of  the  prov- 
inces had  prohibition  and  one  or  two  others  limited 
license,  the  placement  of  disabled  men  in  employ- 
ment was  many  times  simpler  in  the  dry  territory 
than  the  wet.  In  the  latter  many  men  lost  jobs 
again  and  again  by  reason  of  intoxication,  not  only 
injuring  themselves  but  weakening  the  standing  of 
their  fellows  as  well  in  the  eyes  of  the  employers. 

Finally  there  is  the  great  general  public  prejudice 
against  the  disabled,  the  incredulity  as  to  possible 
usefulness,  the  apparent  will  to  pauperize,  and  the 
reluctance  through  usual  channels  of  opportunity  to 
give  the  handicapped  man  a  chance.  Successful 
crippled  and  blind  men  unanimously  testify  that  the 
handicap  of  public  opinion  is  a  greater  obstacle 


10 


than  amputation  of  limb  or  loss  of  sight.  And 
this  unenlightened  attitude  is  manifest  in  every 
social  relation  of  the  disabled — with  family,  with 
employer,  with  the  community  as  a  whole. 

It  becomes  clear,  therefore,  that  a  necessary  fea- 
ture of  any  program  for  restoring  the  disabled 
soldier  to  self-respect  and  self-support  is  a  campaign 
of  public  education  to  convert  the  general  attitude 
toward  the  crippled  and  handicapped. 

This  need  was  recognized  most  clearly  among  our 
enemies  by  Germany  and  among  our  allies  by  Can- 
ada. There  was  signal  failure  to  appreciate  the 
value  of  public  education  in  France,  Great  Britain, 
and  Italy.  There  is  no  need  of  it  yet  in  Belgium 
as  all  the  disabled  men  are  retained  in  the  army 
and  provided  not  only  with  training  but  with  em- 
ployment as  well,  and  there  is  no  family  problem 
as  the  men  cannot  return  home. 

Within  a  few  months  of  the  opening  of  the  war, 
the  secretary  of  the  German  national  federation 
for  the  aid  of  cripples  made  a  tour  of  the  leading 
cities  of  the  Fatherland  speaking  to  meetings  of 
public  officials,  social  workers,  and  the  like,  with  the 
aim  of  disseminating  intelligence  regarding  modern 
principles  and  methods  of  dealing  with  the  disabled. 
The  same  authority  prepared  several  pamphlets  of 
popular  character  which  were  distributed  in  editions 
of  over  a  hundred  thousand.  There  was  in  ex- 
istence at  the  outbreak  of  the  war  an  excellent 
monthly  journal  on  work  for  cripples,  and  this 
devoted  its  columns  to  the  subject  of  provision  for 
the  war  disabled.  Some  other  special  publications 
in  the  same  field  immediately  sprang  up.  One  of 
these  has  the  interesting  title  of  "From  War  to 
Industry." 

There  has  been  issued  under  the  title  of  "The 


11 


Will  Prevails"  a  volume  of  biographies  of  cripples 
who  have  overcome  their  handicaps— from  Tam- 
burlaine  down  to  men  disabled  in  the  present  war. 
The  book  is  intended  for  circulation  in  hospitals 
and  for  general  reading.    Exhibitions  illustrating 
m  a  practical  way  the  possibilities  of  the  war  crip- 
ple constitute  another  vehicle  of  public  education, 
and  have  been  held  in  the  leading  centers  of  the 
empire.    Moving  pictures  and  lantern  slides  are 
also  being  utilized  for  propaganda  to  stimulate  in- 
terest on  the  part  of  the  people  and  to  arouse  ambi- 
tion and  courage  on  the  part  of  the  disabled  them- 
selves. 

In  Canada  a  real  and  very  intelligent  effort  has 
been  made  to  acquaint  the  people  with  the  aim  and 
practice  of  reeducation.  A  well-known  poster, 
printed  in  red  and  black,  entitled  "What  Every 
Disabled  Soldier  Should  Know,"  is  widely  in  evi- 
dence throughout  the  Dominion.  It  is  really  ad- 
dressed as  much  to  the  public  as  to  the  returned 
soldier.   The  text  of  the  poster  is  as  follows  : 

Thtionary"e  ^  "0  SUCh  W01'd  aS  "imP°ssible>»  in  his  dic- 

^fulnned"^11™1  ambiti°n  t0  C>ain  a  "ood  livin8'  be 

Tanehvv  °f  «  ****** 

That  the  whole  object  of  doctors,  nurses,  and  instruc 
tors  is  to  help  him  in  doing  that  very  thine  nStrUC" 
That  he  must  help  them  to  help  him   5  g' 

i  vLf  }  1UVe  to  'have  the  most  ireful  and  effectual 
treatment  known  to  science  enectual 

lhat  interesting  and  useful  occupations  form  a  mm* 

duty  for  him  with  the  Canadfa"?  forces  „ verLL"  l'?' 
12 


That  his  strength  and  earning  capacity  will  be  restored 
there  to  the  highest  degree  possible,  through  the 
Invalided  Soldiers'  Commission. 

That  if  he  requires  an  artificial  limb  or  kindred  appli- 
ance it  will  be  supplied  free. 

That  every  man  di-abled  by  service  will  receive  a  pen- 
sion or  gratuity  in  proportion  to  his  disability. 

That  if  his  disability  prevents  him  from  returning  to 
his  old  work  he  will  receive  free  training  for  a  new 
occupation. 

That  full  consideration  is  given  to  his  own  capacity  and 
desires  when  a  new  occupation  has  to  be  chosen. 

That  his  own  will-power  and  determination  will  enable 
him  to  succeed,  both  in  the  training  and  in  the  occu- 
pation afterward. 

That  his  maintenance  and  that  of  his  family  will  be 
paid  for  during  the  training  he  may  receive  after  dis- 
charge, and  for  a  month  longer. 

That  neither  his  treatment  nor  his  training  will  cost 
him  a  cent. 

That  his  home  Province  has  a  special  commission  to 
assist  him  in  finding  employment  on  discharge. 

That  hundreds  of  towns  and  villages  have  committees, 
associations,  and  clubs,  to  welcome  him  on  arrival, 
and  to  help  in  securing  a  position  for  him. 

That  the  Dominion  and  provincial  Governments,  the 
municipal  authorities,  and  all  t:orts  of  employers,  give 
the  returned  soldier  preference  in  filling  vacant  posi- 
tions. 

That  the  returned  soldier  wishing  to  take  up  land  and 
farm  it  will  be  helped  to  do  so,  under  Federal  and 
other  settlement  schemes. 

That  the  Invalided  Soldiers'  Commission  exists  to  carry 
out  his  restoration  and  training  in  Canada. 

That  the  Board  of  Pension  Commissioners  exists  to  dis- 
tribute the  pensions  provided  by  his  country  for  him 
and  his  dependents. 

That  the  Invalided  Soldiers'  Commission  and  the  Board 
of  Pension  Commissioners  are  in  the  position  of  trus- 
tees, appointed  for  his  benefit,  and  representing  the 
whole  people  of  Canada. 

That,  therefore,  he  should  write  direct  to  the  Commis- 
sion or  the  Board  if  he  needs  advice  or  help. 

Canadians  are  unanimously  resolved  that  every  re- 
turned soldier  shall  have  a  full  opportunity  to  suc- 


13 


reed.  When  thai  opportunity  is  put  within  his  reach, 
his  success  will  depend  on  his  own  good  sense  in  seiz- 
ing and  using  it. 

Another  poster  of  pictorial  character  shows  a 
one-armed  man  fitted  with  an  artificial  appliance  at 
work  on  a  drill  press. 

The  daily  press  has  been  supplied  with  material 
descriptive  of  the  success  of  men  who  have  com- 
pleted training  and  made  good.  Some  stories  have 
carried  with  them  a  little  preachment  as  to  the 
sound  attitude  toward  the  disabled  soldiers.  One 
concludes  with  this  statement:  "Every  man  doing 
steady  work  suited  to  his  capacity  is  a  gain  to  him- 
self and  his  country.  Every  man  left  idle,  or  per- 
forming some  trifling  task  beneath  his  capacity, 
or  trying  to  do  work  he  is  unfit  for,  is  wasted.  And 
Canada  cannot  afford  to  waste  a  man." 

A  remarkable  moving  picture  film  in  ten  reels 
has  been  prepared  by  the  government  authorities 
to  illustrate  the  progress  of  the  disabled  soldier 
after  his  return  from  overseas.  It  shows  reception 
at  the  debarkation  depot,  transportation  in  a  hos- 
pital train,  various  forms  of  treatment  at  military 
hospitals,  recreation,  vocational  training,  and,  final- 
ly, reemployment  in  industry.  The  message  of  the 
series  of  reels  is  "that  injury  does  not  mean  pau- 
perism :  that  every  man  is  given  a  chance  to  make 
good."  Where  the  man  does  not  try  to  help  him- 
self, however,  there  is  shown  the  opposite  eventual- 
ity of  vagrancy.  The  film  is  for  exhibition  in 
Canadian  military  hospitals  in  England  and  for 
showing  to  the  public  of  the  Dominion. 

In  the  United  States  there  has  been  as  keen  if 
not  a  keener  realization  of  the  fundamental  im- 
portance of  public  education  to  the  cause  of  the 
disabled  as  in  any  other  country,  and  as  might 

14 


probably  be  expected  actual  work  on  such  a  cam- 
paign began  at  an  early  date.    The  Surgeon  Gen- 
eral of  the  Army  issued  in  October,  1917,  a  clear 
statement  of  the  modern  policy  and  spirit  of  deal- 
ing with  the  disabled  soldier,  under  the  title  of 
"The  Passing  of  the  Cripple."   Later  the  same  office 
made  an  excellent  contribution  to  the  cause  in  the 
preparation  of  moving  picture  films  of  five  success- 
ful American  cripples  who  were  seriously  handi- 
capped, yet  had  overcome  their  obstacles.  This 
series  of  reels  was  entitled  "The  Way  Out,"  and  was 
intended  for  showing  to  the  general  public  and  in 
hospitals  overseas  to  men  who  have  just  met  with 
disabling  injury.    The  set  is  one  item  in  a  "cheer- 
up  campaign,"  another  projected  feature  of  which 
is  the  issue  of  a  volume  of  biographies  of  disabled 
Americans  who  have  beaten  their  handicaps.  Still 
another  factor  in  this  work  is  the  issue  by  the 
Surgeon  General,  in  cooperation  with  the  American 
Red  Cross,  of  an  inspirational  magazine,  by  name 
"Carry  On,"  which  aims  to  convey  to  members  of 
the  army  medical  corps,  to  army  nurses,  to  Red 
Cross  home  service  workers,  and  to  the  public  at 
large  some  conception  of  the  new  spirit  in  dealing 
with  wounds,  of  more  kinds  than  one,  which  are 
sustained  at  the  front.    This  magazine  has  already 
a  monthly  circulation  of  over  a  hundred  thousand. 

An  unofficial  campaign  in  the  interest  of  the  dis- 
abled was  early  initiated  by  the  Red  Cross  In- 
stitute for  Crippled  and  Disabled  Men.  One  of  the 
most  familiar  items  in  this  campaign  was  a  small 
folder  of  which  over  seven  million  copies  were 
distributed,  largely  through  the  courtesy  of  tele- 
phone, gas,  electric,  and  other  public  service  cor- 
porations. It  was  titled,  "Your  Duty  to  the  War 
Cripple"  and  its  text— which  epitomizes  the  gospel 
preached  in  the  campaign — read  as  follows : 
15 


When  the  crippled  soldier  returns  from  the  front,  the 
government  will  provide  for  him,  in  addition  to  medi- 
cal care,  special  training  for  self-support. 
But  whether  this  will  really  put  him  back  on  his  feet 
depends  on  what  the  public  does  to  help  or  hinder, 
on  whether  the  community  morally  backs  up  the 
national  program  to  put  the  disabled  soldier  beyond 
the  need  of  charity. 

In  the  past,  the  attitude  of  the  public  has  been  a  greater 
handicap  to  the  cripple  than  his  physical  disability. 
People  have  assumed  him  to  be  helpless,  and  have, 
only  too  often,  persuaded  him  to  become  so. 

For  the  disabled  soldier  there  has  been  "hero-worship": 
for  the  civilian  cripple  there  has  been  a  futile  kind 
of  sympathy.    Both  do  a  man  more  harm  than  good. 

All  the  cripple  needs  is  the  kind  of  job  he  is  fitted  for, 
and  training  in  pieparation  for  it.  There  are  hun- 
dreds of  seriously  crippled  men  now  holding  down 
jobs  of  importance.  Other  cripples  can  do  likewise, 
if  given  the  chance. 

In  the  bght  of  results  already  attained  abroad  in  the 
training  of  disabled  soldiers,  the  complete  elimination 
of  the  dependent  cripple  has  become  a  constructive 
and  inspiring  possibility. 

Idleness  is  the  great  calamity.  Your  service  to  the 
crippled  man,  therefore,  is  to  find  for  him  a  good 
busy  job,  and  encourage  him  to  tackle  it. 

Demand  of  the  cripple  that  he  get  back  in  the  work  of 
the  world,  and  you  will  find  him  only  too  ready  to  do 
so. 

For  the  cripple  who  is  occupied  is,  in  truth,  no  longer 
handicapped. 

Can  the  crippled  soldier — or  the  industrial  cripple  as 
well — count  on  you  as  a  true  and  sensible  friend? 
The  assistance  of  chambers  of  commerce  and  man- 
ufacturers' associations  was  enlisted  to  secure 
transmittal  to  their  members,  with  a  special  note  of 
indorsement  by  the  organization,  of  a  circular  call- 
ing to  the  attention  of  employers  their  responsibility 
to  the  disabled  soldier.  Over  two  hundred  thousand 
employers  were  reached  direct  in  this  manner  and 
the  statement  was  reprinted  in  scores  of  trade 
journals. 


IB 


A  speakers'  bureau  was  organized,  a  film  and  pic- 
ture service  instituted,  and  the  daily  press  and 
magazines  supplied  with  informative  articles  on  the 
work  being  accomplished  abroad  in  the  reconstruc- 
tion of  crippled  men.  One  of  the  most  interesting 
features  of  the  work  was  the  preparation  for  indi- 
vidual trade  journals  of  articles  on  re-education  in 
the  particular  trade  covered  by  each  journal  or  on 
employment  opportunities  for  the  disabled  in  that 
trade.  This  material  proved  of  very  direct  interest 
to  both  editors  and  readers  of  the  journals. 

Another  feature  of  the  campaign  was  the  issue  of 
a  booklet  in  ten  foreign  languages:  Yiddish,  Italian, 
French,  German,  Hungarian,  Polish,  Greek,  Spanish, 
Danish,  and  Swedish.  These  were  distributed  to 
pastors  of  foreign-speaking  congregations  and  to 
physicians  and  social  workers  in  the  foreign  com- 
munities. The  text  of  the  booklets  was  also  re 
printed  by  almost  every  foreign  language  news- 
paper in  the  country. 

The  work  of  public  education  in  the  interest  of 
the  cripple  has  just  begun.  It  must  be  continued 
until  the  "man  in  the  street"  is  thoroughly  familiar 
with  his  responsibilities  to  the  disabled — until  the 
community  is  converted  from  its  present  attitude. 

.'ill  Fourth  Avenue. 


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dc  n0l«-4iiN[e  r  y  * '  U  nd  c  r"*  Wfflcu  1 1  SVa 
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Rtbiero  to  Conform  touli  Smtrltan  {Inutile  bp 

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